28. LIFE ON THE HILL

IN the early days of their stay on the hill the Maharshi and
his disciples were menaced by insects, monkeys and other
animals. Yet the Maharshi told his disciples that the hill was
the territory of the animals and that as guests there it was
their duty to ensure that no harm came to the animals on
their account. It is said of sadhus that they extended protection
to all living beings (abhayam sarva bhutebhyah). This saying
applied to the Maharshi who protected even poisonous
insects. Deadly scorpions stung him on three occasions but
nothing happened to him.

      A snake once crept into Skandasramam. Bhagavan's
mother was terrified but he began walking towards the
snake very calmly. As he did so the snake began withdrawing
and went into a crevice, the Maharshi followed it till that
stage. All of a sudden the snake turned back and lifted its
hood. It also began steadily looking at Bhagavan who
returned the gaze. This game of mutual hypnotising went
on for some time. By then the snake presumably grasping
that the Maharshi was harmless approached him confidently.
It almost touched his feet, and later left. The same snake
would often visit the ashram for Bhagavan's darshan even
when he was amidst visitors. The snake would occasionally
try to climb on to Bhagavan, but he would not encourage
it. There were two peacocks in the ashram. They never
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attacked the snake. Also, quite surprisingly, the snake would
join the peacocks in their dances.

      Squirrels, crows and other birds also would show a
natural affection for the Maharshi. The latter, in turn,
would feed them. A particular crow used to leave its young
ones in Bhagavan's care and go out. The Maharshi would
take the trouble of feeding them whenever they cried for
food.

MONKEYS

There seems to be a natural affinity between monkeys
and humans. Recall how the monkeys assisted Sri Rama
in the Ramayana.

Bhagavan was able to converse with monkeys and
after a close observation of their ways discovered that
they had a social and political structure or hierarchy. On
several occasions the monkeys would go to the Maharshi
with their disputes for arbitration. He would patiently
listen to them and effect reconciliation among the
contending parties.

      A monkey-chief once bit an infant monkey which
fainted. Taking it to be dead the monkey group left it
there and went away. A little later the infant regained
consciousness and made its way to Bhagavan's ashram. As
it was limping, the ashramites referred to it as Nondi (the
Lame one). Nondi was nursed back to normalcy. On one
occasion the group of monkeys to which Nondi belonged
passed by the ashram and took him back into their group.
This was unusual because monkeys generally avoid anyone
of their clan who had contact with human beings. Nondi
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was a frequent visitor to the ashram and he would take
quite a few liberties with Bhagavan. Nondi was quick to
take offence; he was meticulously clean in his ways. Once,
when Nondi spilled some rice on the ground the Maharshi
scolded him. Immediately Nondi slapped him near the
eye. As a punishment, the Maharshi became very cold
towards Nondi for some days. But Nondi pleaded with
him and found his way back to the Maharshi's lap.

      On an earlier occasion also Nondi had misbehaved.

      The Maharshi was once blowing hot milk to be given to
Nondi but the latter thought that the Maharshi was going
to sip the milk and slapped him. Soon after realising his
mistake Nondi repented and got back into Bhagavan's
good books. On that occasion Bhagavan was not hurt
badly and that helped Nondi's quick rehabilitation.
Making fun of Nondi, Bhagavan once said to him "You
should not forget us when you become the Chief." By a
strange coincidence Nondi did become the Chief of their
group bypassing three senior members. Nondi was keen
on being anointed in Bhagavan's presence and went to
the ashram with his retinue but not finding him there
spoilt all the trees of the ashram.

On his return, the Maharshi noticed the havoc and
wondered why Nondi and his gang did what they had
done. The next day Nondi visited the ashram but instead
of climbing on to the lap of Bhagavan, as he usually did,
climbed up a tree and shook a branch — a privilege enjoyed
only by a Chief of a group. On seeing that, the Maharshi
guessed that Nondi had become a Chief. After that Nondi
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came down and sat on the Maharshi's lap. Thereafter Nondi's
predecessor in office came up and paid homage to Nondi.
This confirmed Bhagavan's guess. At mealtime Nondi sat
beside Bhagavan but refused to touch the food and walked
away. Surprised at this, the Maharshi followed him. Nondi
went and sat among his subjects, with his queens sitting
closeby. (Among monkeys the queens of the previous king
continued to retain their status even under the new regime).
It became clear that Nondi would not partake of any meal
without his subjects also being served. So, the ashramites,
arranged a `royal banquet' for Nondi.

      A little later due to the machinations of his minister
Nondi lost his position and began living apart from his
group with his progeny. Two months after the Maharshi
left Skandasramam and settled down at Ramanasramam,
Nondi came searching for him and continued to visit
him every fortnight.

      Once, an old monkey-chief became sick. He left his
group and stood outside the Virupaksha cave. On coming
to know this the Maharshi went out to look him up. He
also noticed that two previous Chiefs who were expelled
by that monkey were on two nearby branches grieving
for their erstwhile Chief. The Maharshi took the sick one
inside the ashram and nursed him but to no avail. While
the old monkey was about to die the other two let out a
cry of agony. The Maharshi arranged for the burial of the
dead monkey with all honours due to a sannyasin.

It is said that monkeys have little gratitude. But the
experience of the Maharshi was different as may be seen
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from this incident: The Maharshi and his disciples set out
on giripradakshina on a hot day. By the time they reached
the vicinity of Pachaiamman Kovil at midday they were
tired and thirsty. A group of monkeys who noticed this,
climbed on to a nearby tree which bore a number of juicy
fruits and shook the branches. As a result, a number of
fruits fell on the ground. The group of monkeys left the
spot leaving the Maharshi and his party to enjoy the fruits.
Possibly, the group of monkeys had received the Maharshi's
hospitality earlier and it was their way of reciprocating.

      A tiger frequently visited a waterfall close to the
ashram. He would usually growl to announce his arrival.
The Maharshi would know it to be a friendly growl but
his disciples would panic and make all sorts of noises to
drive away the tiger.

      When Ramana moved to the hill his only human
companion was Palaniswami. Some others joined him
about whom we have scanty information. Even they served
Bhagavan and were suitably rewarded. We shall now turn
our attention to them, some of them were animals.
According to Bhagavan those animals also were jivas who
sought refuge in his ashram to work off their karma ^[?] and
therefore were not inferior to human beings. The Maharshi
always would refer to the animals as `he' or `she' but never
as `it.' Both humans and animals who stayed with the
Maharshi constituted his `family.' Obviously, therefore,
even the Maharshi had `family responsibilities.' Just as in
any family the younger members were particularly taken
care of, even in the Maharshi's `family' the voiceless
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members were looked after with great care. The Maharshi
took care of the food, bath and bed of these `children.'
Great care was taken if any of these `children' fell ill. Also,
appropriate functions were conducted in connection with
the delivery, wedding or funeral of any of the animals.

FAMILY OF DOGS:

Kamala was the founder of the family of dogs, a family
which was fairly large. The Maharshi knew the members
of the different generations and each one of them bore a
name. For facility we shall refer to them as 1, 2, 3 etc. The
descendants of Kamala included Neela, Jack and Rose. A
little before Kamala's end Bhagavan asked Rose to go and
look her up. After Kamala passed away he consoled Rose.

Chinna Karuppan: This dog was dark-skinned and
came to be known as the Dark one (Karuppan), Karuppan
was very fastidious. He would generally keep aloof and
not mix with other dogs. He would stay close to the
Virupaksha cave amidst bushes. Noticing his aloofness
the ashramites would serve him his food at a short distance
from him. However, one day as the Maharshi was on his
way to Skandasramam, Karuppan leapt up and wound
himself round the Maharshi's feet and played with great
joy. Thenceforth he became a member of the ashram.

Karuppan was intelligent, large-hearted and sensitive.

      At the ashram he mixed freely with the other members
and played about with them. He even tried to play with
those who were orthodox and resented any dog.

      On one occasion, Karuppan went near a Brahmin,
who was performing japa, little knowing that it was
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prohibited. The disturbed Brahmin hit the dog with a stick.
After that incident Karuppan never again stepped into the
ashram. Extremely sensitive as he was, Karuppan disappeared
altogether from the sight of those who slighted him.

      On an earlier occasion, a similar incident had
occurred. On a rainy night, Palaniswami was rude towards
Karuppan who at once left the place and lay on a bag of
coals at Skandasramam. He did not return to the
Virupaksha cave till he was specially invited.

      Palaniswami also scolded a pup once who thereupon
jumped into a water tank and killed himself. On that very
day, Bhagavan had told his disciples that those animals
came to live with him to work off their karma ^[?] and that
they should be respected. Yet sometimes his disciples did
not follow his precept and were insensitive.

      On several occasions, the dogs Kamala and Seguppan
were ordered by Bhagavan to take new visitors to different
shrines and teerthas, which they did.

Jack 1: This dog was both intelligent and obedient.

      Once the Maharshi set out on giripradakshina with his
disciples by a short-route across the hill. He asked Jacki to
go down the hill to the town. Accordingly, Jack left and
was sighted by the Maharshi on its way down. Midway on
their walk the Maharshi changed course and walked down
the hill. As they were descending, Jack was returning from
the town. The Maharshi then directed Jack to go back to
the ashram. Though reluctant to leave Bhagavan's company,
as an obedient fellow, Jack went back to the ashram. Jack
was soft and austere in his ways. His daily routine was like
this: early in the morning he would visit a devadasi's (temple
dancer's) house for breakfast and then go to a priest's house
to accompany him to the shrine at Guha Namassivaya.
After that he would go to Virupaksha cave for Bhagavan's
darshan and later to a resting place nearby. Around 9.30 in
the morning he would visit the shrine at Guha Namassivaya
for prasadam and get back to his place of rest. Again by
evening he would visit the devadasi's house for food. After
supper he would go to a math ^[?] to keep company with the
priest. To the extent possible he would spend his time in
the vicinity of Arunachaleswara, much like a yogi.

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In 1905 - 1906 when the plague broke out in the
town most of the inhabitants of Tiruvannamalai left the
place leaving it deserted. Leopards roamed about the streets
during daytime. Bhagavan and some of his disciples stayed,
at Pachaiamman Kovil during that period. Jack did not
stay with Bhagavan but stayed with the priest at Guha
Namassivaya. After sometime he left the place never to be
seen again.

      The Maharshi looked upon the animals as sadhus.

He ensured that they had their share of food before others
in the ashram did. The Maharshi arranged for the proper
burial of the ashram animals upon their death and in some
cases erected samadhis.

HUMAN COMPANIONS:

(1) Palaniswami: The devotion of Palaniswami has
already been recounted. The Maharshi had great affection
for this elderly attendant of his. For Palani life without
Bhagavan was meaningless. He breathed his last when he
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was about sixty in 1918 during the period when Bhagvan
stayed at Virupaksha cave.

(2) The `old lady of greens' (Keerai Patti): Ramana
went to live on the hill in 1900. An old lady who lived at
a corner of Guha Namassivaya shrine used to collect greens
and cook them. One day she brought some greens for the
Swami, the new arrival on the hill. The Swami partook of
it and ever since the old lady began regularly serving the
Swami. He also was a frequent visitor to her place. Not
only that, he would, on occasion, help the lady in
collecting greens and in getting them ready for cooking.
The old lady had great mother-like affection for the young
Swami. Devotees of Bhagavan believed that the old lady
was reborn as the Cow Lakshmi who stayed at
Ramanasramam. Bhagavan also appeared to subscribe to
that view as may be seen from this: A devotee once asked
Bhagavan whether it was possible for a human being to
be re-born as an animal. Bhagavan's reply was, "Why not?
Do we not have Lakshmi?"

3) Ayyaswami: Ayyaswami was a Malayalee who was
endowed with great detachment like Uddandi Nayanar.
For sheer service-mindedness he was unequalled. He
looked after the upkeep of the ashram. He would be busy
throughout the day and quietly go out into the town
begging without anybody noticing him. This serviceable
member of the ashram passed away quite young, in the
same year as Keerai Patti.